Deepfakes. Artificial Intelligence. Big Data

We are in a technological age that provides us with an array of opportunities and advantages, however, this new era also doesn’t come without its disadvantages, challenges and issues. Businesses are able to collect an array of data that enables digital marketing teams to improve customer relationships, increase sales and brand awareness. The well-renowned quote, “The good doesn’t come without the bad” is relevant to the current digital age with businesses facing challenges such as fake news, hacking and deepfakes.

Deepfake technology enables the stitching of an individual into an image, video even audio clip when they did not participate in the original production (Adee, 2020). Technology facilitating deepfakes have existed for years, one of Hollywood’s most use of the capability was to resurrect late actor, Paul Walker in the final Fast and Furious. When deepfake technology was created it would take upwards of 12 months for a room full of experts to create and perfect these effects (Adee, 2020).

There is a widespread misunderstanding regarding the term ‘deepfake’. Computer vision and graphic researchers despise the word deepfake as it now commonly represents “everything from state-of-the-art videos generated by AI to any image or film that seems potentially fraudulent” (Adee,2020).

‘Deepfake’ technologies provides graphic designers, filmmakers and the everyday person the ability to create beautiful creations through image or video using AI technology. Businesses are able to utilise such programs to create captivating, comical or emotional advertisements and online content for an affordable price. This aspect of deepfake advantages businesses and can assist in increasing brand awareness. Despite the advantages, there are a number of disadvantages deepfake content can have on a business, company or government (Simmons, 2020).

Fake news is one of the largest disadvantages to businesses, companies and the government which are empowered through deepfake content. One of the biggest examples of fake news stories in recent times which have severely affected the US Government was Pope Francis’s endorsement of Donald Trump in the 2016 election campaign. This story was shortly followed by the accusation that Hilary Clinton was selling weapons to the terrorist group, ISIS. These articles were written and published online and with the use of deepfake capabilities, hundreds of thousands of people were hoodwinked into believing the publication of the stories were legitimate.

Further prevalent examples of deepfake content is the video of Barrack Obama calling Donald Trump ‘a complete dipshit’ which surfaced in April, 2018. Mark Zuckerberg bragging about controlling billions of people in June 2019 and the apology from Game of Thrones, Jon Snow regarding the dismal ending to the popular show (Sample, 2020). These videos reached millions of people and severely affected the social media site Facebook, television network HBO and the individuals involved.

Taking into consideration all the discussed information, it is evident that the use of Big Data and AI in social media is constantly increasing and with an increase of big data and AI, concepts such as deepfakes benefit and disadvantage current day businesses, governments and individuals.

References

Adee, S., 2021. Full Page Reload. [online] IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Available at: <https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/software/what-are-deepfakes-how-are-they-created> [Accessed April 2021].

Foley, J., 2021. 12 deepfake examples that terrified and amused the internet. [online] Creativebloq.com. Available at: <https://www.creativebloq.com/features/deepfake-examples> [Accessed April 2021].

Johnston, D., 2021. What is a deepfake? Everything you need to know about the AI-powered fake media. [online] Business Insider. Available at: <https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-deepfake?r=AU&IR=T> [Accessed April 2021].

Sample, I., 2021. What are deepfakes – and how can you spot them?. [online] The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/13/what-are-deepfakes-and-how-can-you-spot-them> [Accessed April 2021].

Simmons, J., 2021. The Real Business Impacts of Deepfakes. [online] No Jitter. Available at: <https://www.nojitter.com/security/real-business-impacts-deepfakes> [Accessed April 2021].

Toews, R., 2021. Deepfakes Are Going To Wreak Havoc On Society. We Are Not Prepared.. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2020/05/25/deepfakes-are-going-to-wreak-havoc-on-society-we-are-not-prepared/> [Accessed April 2021].